Africa & Middle East · reference
🇮🇷 Iran
Theocratic Islamic republic combining clerical rule with vetted elections
SystemTheocratic Islamic republic combining clerical rule with vetted elections
Head of stateSupreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father Ali Khamenei in 2026
Head of governmentPresident Masoud Pezeshkian
LegislatureIslamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis) · 290 seats
ElectionsElections are held regularly but the Guardian Council vets all candidates, excluding most reformists and all opponents of clerical rule
Last election2024-06-28 · snap presidential election after President Raisi died in a helicopter crash
Next election2028 · legislative and presidential elections due
The Assembly of Experts elevated Mojtaba Khamenei to Supreme Leader in 2026, keeping ultimate authority within the Khamenei household after his father's three-decade rule. The succession followed the June 2025 war in which Israel and the United States struck Iranian nuclear and military sites. Sanctions, inflation and recurring protest waves, from 2009 to the 2022 Mahsa Amini movement, frame a system whose elected offices remain subordinate to the Leader.
Live encyclopedic leader and election records · verified 2026-07-02
The Margin models elections where a competitive public record exists · all countries